Natural Light: What affects it and how does it affect us?
The science on this is still in its infancy but this week we look at how Coulthard explains the effect of the colour of light.
The nature of sunlight is affected by
Our location,
The time of year, and
The time of day.
Location
As we know, our location also affects our
Length of daylight hours, and
Intensity of daylight hours.
Places closer to the equator have more ‘direct’ sunshine and than those near the poles. This can cause difference in daylight hours.
Time of Year
The time of year also affects these things as long with weather effects like cloud cover.
The earth is actually on a 23.5 degree tilt so at part of the year the northern hemisphere has more direct sun rays while the other half of the year has the southern hemisphere with more direct sun rays. This causes the seasons as well as the length of the day.[i]
Time of Day
Lastly natural light goes from
bright, blue rich light in the day to
warm, red based light at night.
This is because the molecules in the atmosphere scatters blue and violet light more than red and orange due to the difference in wavelength and frequency. Thus, during the evening, the sunshine has to pass through more of the atmosphere which scatters violet and blue light away from our eyes leaving the red ones to reach our eyes.[ii]
How Natural Light Affects Us?
Blue light tells us it is time to be awake while,
Red light helps us relax and get ready to sleep.
The US Centre for Disease Control outlines how
White light boosts alertness and mood during the day,
Blue light can make it difficult to sleep, while
Red light has no effect on our body clock.[iii]
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